The Few Regrets of Charlie Swan
by VeniVediVici
Summary: Charlie doesn't regret much in his life.


Charlie Swan didn't regret much in his life. Born to an older couple, he'd been forced to take care of his parents when their health began to decline. It had, unfortunately, restricted him to Forks until they died. But Charlie didn't mind. He'd never planned on going anywhere exotic, and actually liked staying in the same place for a long period of time. Forks held all that he knew, and all that he was. His friends—Old Quil's son Quil III (I think), Harry Clearwater, and Billy Black—were there, so were his parents; his career as a police officer gave him some satisfaction. He loved his parents too much to care, but he'd been forced to grow up a little faster than Quil—who'd died young—Harry, or Billy, who lived life to the fullest even after his illness confined him to a wheelchair. He never regretted taking care of them.

Then he met Renee Higginbotham (I personally don't think this last name was half as creative as Ateara or Littlesea) a free spirit who longed to do everything Charlie could not. His parents were still alive, and though he knew he had to take care of them, he couldn't help but fall head-over-heels in love for the flighty girl. She'd escaped a strict household to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. So Renee really had nothing left to lose. Theirs was a passionate, romance-filled whirlwind courtship, and at the time, marriage seemed just the kind of adventure Renee was looking for. She loved him, and wanted to get married. He agreed whole-heartedly. They'd married, and oh, was Charlie Swan happy. He'd finally found someone who loved him and was willing to spend the rest of her life with him. And when Isabella Marie Swan had been born one hot September day, he'd felt as though he couldn't possibly be any happier than he was at the moment his daughter was placed in his arms. He loved holding the little girl and admiring the way her nose crinkled when he accidentally breathed on her face.

He should've seen the signs coming. Renee had become more withdrawn after Bella's birth, and complained more often of hating the rain, and wanting to live somewhere warm and sunny. He figured that it was all a part of the postpartum depression some women experienced after having a baby. So he'd ignored the signs, and when, one day, Renee had packed her bags and Bella and left, he'd been powerless to stop her. Everything he had hoped was finally his was taken out from under his feet. Charlie was side-swiped by Renee's betrayal. Who was he to stop her from leaving him? He wasn't good enough for her, but he never regretted marrying Renee. The time they'd had had been a good year, but the one thing that he did regret was letting her take Bella away from him. From that point on, she'd spent summers and the occasional Christmas with him up until she was twelve, and then she'd insisted that they spend two weeks in California together. It wasn't enough by any stretch of the word, but it was all Charlie had.

Bella was exactly like him in personality, though partially in looks. Brown hair, serious nature, inability to talk about personal matters; he was amazed at how she mirrored him in so many ways. There was little of Renee in Bella Swan.

And when—miracle of miracles!—she'd decided to live with him at the start of her junior year of high school, it was all he could do to not phone up everyone in town and alert them that BELLA'S COMING HOME! Though, truthfully, he did. Renee hadn't wanted Bella to live in Forks while she and Phil toured the country with his minor league baseball team and get trapped there like she almost did. He hadn't liked that Renee thought so little of her time there, and he also suspected that she didn't like that he was close friends with the Quileute people. They made her nervous for whatever reason and she desperately wished that Bella wouldn't be foolish enough to date, and heaven forbid, marry one. Of course Charlie didn't agree with Renee. The Quileute were some of the kindest people he'd ever met, and would be honored to have one as a son-in-law. He hoped secretly that Bella would marry Jacob, whom she'd had an attachment to as a little girl.

But he was concerned that Bella wouldn't like living in Forks; that she'd despise it and him. After all, what kind of father doesn't fight for his kid? He'd wanted what was best for her, and at the time, it seemed like it was. But it was until it was too late that he'd realized that what was best for her was with him all along. And at first, it looked like he'd be right about one thing: she didn't care for Forks. Her love for him was still there.

She'd been drawn to the Cullens almost immediately upon her arrival, and he hadn't thought anything of it until the night she came home yelling at the youngest Cullen boy, and left Forks, shouting the very same thing her mother had when leaving so many years ago. Charlie worried for his daughter, and hoped that she'd eventually come back home to him. She did, but only after suffering severe injuries that took a while to heal, but she was still attached to Cullen. He'd tried to be cool with his daughter dating, but after Cullen left her and she'd spiraled into a deep depression, he found he couldn't bear to see her hurt by another boy. He'd even tried to do the worst thing for him by sending her back to her mother, but she hadn't wanted to leave. And then Jacob came along.

Jacob Black had brought Bella back from the brink of destruction, and she'd seemed well on her way back. Now this was a boy he could trust. And then Harry Clearwater died, and Charlie felt side-swiped again. One of his best friends was dead. Bella had disappeared not long after that for three days, during which time Jacob had regretfully informed him about the motorbikes. He'd worried that she'd get hurt, and had immediately tossed it. When she returned with Cullen in tow, he'd been angered that she would go all the way to Italy just to retrieve Cullen after he'd hurt her. He regretted letting him back into his house.

The murders in Seattle made Charlie concerned that his daughter could be a potential victim, and she'd seemingly returned his sentiments. After a few weeks, they'd stopped, and…so had her relationship with Cullen. Bella never gave an explanation for why she and Edward had broken up, but Charlie suspected that it had something to do with Jacob fighting to win Bella's love. And he'd won, the sly boy.

Sue Clearwater, the widow of Harry, had started to come around once Bella had started dating Jacob. She was beautiful in a way Renee had not been—strong, independent, quick-witted and a great cook. Charlie had started to become spoiled by Bella's home-cooking, and Sue was happy to make something and sit down with him. They'd become close friends, and over time, romantically involved with one another. Now here was a woman who wouldn't mind spending her life in a small dreary town.

And when they were married, Charlie Swan didn't regret it.


End file.
